No. 10 Stanford Sinks Titans in Home Opener

FULLERTON, CA -
Stanford's Jenna Rich finished 3-for-4 with a pair of home runs and five RBI and the No. 10 Cardinal banged out 11 hits on the night to defeat host Cal State Fullerton, 13-1, in five innings to close out the first day of play at the 2010 DeMarini Invitational at Anderson Family Field.

The loss was the fourth straight for the Titans, who fell to 3-14 overall with the loss. Stanford, which defeated No. 3 Florida earlier in the day, improved to 14-2 overall with the win.

Junior Torrie Anderson slugged her team-best sixth home run of the season - a solo shot in the third - to account for Fullerton's lone run. Sophomore Morgan LeMond added a two-out pinch-hit single in the fifth as the Titans attempted to rally back, but were turned away, leaving the bases loaded.

Ashley Chinn (6-1) earned the win for the Cardinal, allowing the lone run on two hits and striking out five. Teagan Gerhart started and pitched two innings of hitless softball, striking out a pair.

Back-to-back doubles by Ashley Hansen and Rich in the first put Stanford up quickly, 2-0, before the floodgates opened in the second. Rich hit the first of her two home runs in the second and Jenna Becerra scored on a throwing error to make it a 6-0 Cardinal advantage.

Anderson broke up the no-hit bid, slugging her sixth round-tripper of the year and driving home her team-best 15th run with a shot over the wall in left field toward the scoreboard.

However, that was all the offense the Titans could muster as Stanford added four runs in the fourth on Rich's second home run of the game, a double by Rosey Neill, and a two-run home run by Maya Burns to make it 10-1. The Cardinal added three more in the fifth on a home run by Alyssa Haber, a sacrifice fly by Burns, and a run-scoring wild pitch.

Cal State Fullerton continues tournament play on Saturday morning (March 6) at 11:15 a.m. as the Titans take on Indiana prior to a match-up against Florida at approximately 1:30 p.m.